According to CNBC, while many of the country's largest companies reported high net income and revenue figures amid the economic recovery, the stock market response has generally been subdued.
Statistics released on Friday indicated unexpected growth in US retail sales last month.
US retail sales rose 0.6% in June from the previous month, the country's Commerce Department said. Experts predicted an average decline of 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the consumer confidence index in the US in July fell to 80.8 points from 85.5 points a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan, which calculates this indicator. This is the lowest figure since February this year. Meanwhile, analysts on average predicted an increase to 86.5 points. The Wall Street Journal respondents had expected growth to 86.3 points.
E-Trade Financial's managing director of investment strategy, Mike Levengart, noted that the sharp deterioration in consumer confidence appears to have overshadowed upbeat earnings reports and retail sales growth data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average by the close of trading dropped by 299.17 points (0.86%) and amounted to 34687.85 points.
Standard & Poor's 500 lost 32.87 points (0.75%), down to 4327.16 points.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 115.90 points (0.80%) to 14,427.24 points.
Over the week, the Dow fell 0.52%, the S&P 500 fell 0.97%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.87%.
Charles Schwab Corp. decreased by 2.4%, although the American banking and brokerage company almost doubled its net profit in the second quarter, while its revenue was better than expected.
Intel Corp. fell in price by 1.5%. One of the world's leading manufacturers of computer components is allegedly in talks to buy chip maker GlobalFoundries for $ 30 billion.
Moderna Inc. have risen in price by 10.3%. The shares of the American biotech company will be included in the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, the index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices said. The changes will come into effect on July 21st. Moderna will replace Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. AstraZeneca Plc, a Swedish-British pharmaceutical company, is in the process of acquiring Alexion, with completion expected shortly. Alexion Pharmaceuticals was down 0.3%.
